


A Dollar Short

by EvilBecky



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Childhood, Gen, John on a hunting trip, Shoplifting, Stealing, all the bad things kids shouldn't do, difficult childhood, hunger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 08:14:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3403358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilBecky/pseuds/EvilBecky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John is out, once again, on a hunting trip, leaving a young Dean in charge of taking care of his kid brother. But when Dean is faced with a difficult decision, he comes up with his own solution.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Dollar Short

A young boy was taking his time in the aisles of the convenience store. He was ten years old and fairly scrawny. His sandy hair stuck up on his head and his face was dotted with freckles that got mixed up with the dirt across his nose. His clothes were clean, but they were far too big on him. His collar bone stuck out from the collar of the shirt which he had tucked into a pair of jeans with worn out knees, belted tightly to keep them from falling down. The only thing that he wore that was meant for someone his age were his sneakers which were a size too small. They squeaked a little as he shuffled along the shelves nervously.

His green eyes kept scanning over the food and calculating in his head, comparing the price with the amount he had in his pocket. Unfortunately, the difference was far too much and he had to pass up just about all of the things he wanted. This shouldn’t be too much of a disappointment to him, but he couldn’t help being annoyed. Dean Winchester was used to not having everything. After all, when your dad constantly moves you from city to city inconsistency is part of your life.

But Dean wasn’t thinking about his traveling life or even of his dad; he was thinking about his little brother, Sammy who was at the motel room in front of the TV with their collection of green army men and waiting for Dean to come back with food. Dean had promised that he’d get some cereal, bread, peanut butter, and milk. But milk was expensive and so was peanut butter. At the moment, the only thing he had in his basket was a loaf of white bread, bologna, and a small container of milk. But he didn’t have enough for both the milk and the cereal. He had to choose which was more important. Dean had to make a lot of decisions like that on a daily basis.

He was taking too long. Sammy would start to worry and the guy at the counter kept looking over at him as he paced about the store. He might as well just go up to the counter and deal with Sam’s disappointment later. But he had really wanted that cereal. His stomach grumbled just thinking about it. He was angry at his dad for not leaving them enough when he left on his hunting trip. He was angry at himself for eating so much before this. And, for just a nanosecond, he got angry at his mom.

After all, if she hadn’t gone and died in that fire six years ago then John wouldn’t have had to take them out on the road and they would still be in home where she could cook and shop and take care of Sammy. But as quickly as it came, the anger disappeared, leaving Dean with a deep hole of guilt in his chest. None of this was his mom’s fault. And getting angry about it wasn’t going to help him get Sammy that cereal.

But he could, if he was really, really careful…

He walked around to the cereal where the clerk couldn’t see him. He picked up a box of Lucky Charms (Sammy’s favorite) and moved it to his basket. His eyes shot up to see the back of the clerk’s head and he took his chance. In a single motion, the container of milk found its way into his shirt, tucked into his pants and hidden by the huge folds of his shirt. It was almost like there wasn’t anything hidden there…right?

As he walked out of the aisles and towards the counter, he had a moment of remorse. If he was quick, he could pull the milk out of his shirt and put it back and no one would be the wiser. But then what would he and Sammy drink? Before he could turn back, he walked up to the counter and put the basket down, not looking at the clerk at all.  
The young man rang him up silently, stuffing the food into a plastic bag as each got rung up. Dean felt himself fidgeting and tried to calm down as he pulled the money out of his pocket. He was so nervous that he gave him too much and the guy gave him a bit of a look as he handed two dollars back over. Dean gave him a nervous smile and quickly stuffed the money back into his pocket, adjusting his shirt so that the stolen milk wouldn’t show.

It seemed to take forever for him to count out the change but the minute he did and handed him his bag, Dean turned and almost ran out of the store. His heart was racing up in his ears as he made the quick journey from the store to the motel. As he crossed the street, he kept looking from left to right, his eyes wide with fear. What if the guy waited until he got outside to call the cops? What if, when he went into the motel room, the police would come knocking? He didn’t think he could handle Sam seeing him being arrested. 

But no police cars showed up. No officers approached him, asking where he got the milk. And he got the motel key out without any trouble. As soon as he was inside, he felt himself calm down. He had done it. He had stolen something from a store and gotten away with it. He wasn’t sure if he should be proud or angry at himself.

Sammy was sitting right where Dean had left him. He looked up from his little plastic battalion of men and smiled wide, showing off the gaps of his missing baby teeth. He too wore clothes that were far too big for his tiny frame but his face was cleaner than Dean’s and he wasn’t nearly as scrawny. Dean always made sure that Sammy ate plenty. 

“Hi, Dean!” He said happily, holding up one of his army men. “Wanna play?”

Dean couldn’t help but smile back. “Not right now, Sammy. I’m gonna make us some dinner.”

Sammy smiled even wider. “Did you get cereal?”

Dean snorted a little into his smirk. “Yeah. I got it. Gimme a sec.”

Sammy went back to his soldiers as Dean walked over to the table and sat out their food. He looked over his shoulder to make sure Sammy wasn’t watching before he pulled the milk out from its hiding spot. He set it down along with the cereal and sighed. 

That night, they had bologna sandwiches and cereal for dessert, sharing a can of Coke that Dean bought from the snack machine earlier that day. John didn’t return that night or the night after. It wouldn’t be until the third morning that he’d show up, dirty and splattered in blood. That afternoon, they left the little town behind them. 

If John Winchester ever found out that his son had shop lifted, he would be furious. So, Dean never spoke of it. He didn’t tell him about the milk, or the hot dogs, chips, cheese, bread, and all the other things he would have to steal in order to keep Sammy and himself from going hungry. And he never told Sammy either. As far as Sam was concerned, Dean made every dollar count. He did, but not in the way most people would.

**Author's Note:**

> I have always had this need to write a young!Dean and Sammy fic. Plenty of feels and love included. And I'm fairly proud of the out come. There may be more to come if this one is successful!


End file.
